Burden of sleep deprivation among healthcare professionals in India: The SNORE study.

Background: SNORE (Sleep deprivation among Night shift health staff On Rotation- Evaluation) was a hospital-based observational study conducted to study the effects of sleep deprivation on healthcare professionals working night shifts on rotation.

Aim: This study determines the burden of sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness and also the relation between hours of sleep and Epworth sleepiness scale scores in the study population.

Methodology: A comparative hospital-based observational study was conducted, including healthcare professionals working night shifts on rotation at a tertiary-level healthcare facility, using a semistructured questionnaire. Observations from 293 study participants are reported, selected based on stratified random sampling, after the exclusion of healthcare professionals with other factors which may interfere with sleep deprivation testing.

Results: The mean age in years of the study participants is 27.9 ± 4.3, with female composition being 68.9%. The mean duration of self-reported hours of sleep during the night shift period was 5.43 ± 1.38 hours, and 82.3% of the study participants were found to be sleep-deprived (<7 hours of sleep). The mean Epworth sleepiness scale (EPSS) score is 6.25 ± 3.15 with the burden of sleep deprivation being 30.7% and the burden of excessive daytime sleepiness being 16.4%. EPSS scores were found to decrease with an increase in hours of sleep, with 61% lesser odds of scoring 8-24 on EPSS.

Conclusion: This study highlights the significant burden of sleep deprivation among healthcare providers working rotational night shifts, emphasizing its impact on daytime functioning and wellbeing. The findings point to the need for strategies to improve sleep health in this population to enhance both personal and professional outcomes.